H.R. 4368 — Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Authorization Act

This section defines "appropriate congressional committees" as the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations and the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Appropriations. It also defines "beneficiary countries" as the following 13 countries: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

This section authorizes the Secretary of State and USAID Administrator to carry out the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative in beneficiary countries to promote citizen safety and rule of law; counter transnational criminal organizations and gangs through maritime, aerial, border, and port security cooperation and capacity building; advance law enforcement and justice sector reforms; promote crime prevention for at-risk youth and vulnerable populations; strengthen security sector disaster resilience; prioritize anti-corruption efforts; counter malign influence from specified authoritarian regimes; and support U.S. security assistance branding and public diplomacy. The section authorizes appropriations of $88 to the Department of State and USAID.

This section requires the Secretary of State, in coordination with the USAID Administrator, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment, an implementation plan for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI)—a U.S. security assistance program for Caribbean countries that supports citizen safety, transnational crime reduction, and institutional resilience—with a timeline and objectives for beneficiary countries. The plan must include (1) a multi-year strategy with timeline, objectives, and anticipated outcomes for the region and each beneficiary country aligned with CBSI purposes in section 3; (2) specific, measurable benchmarks; (3) delineation of roles for State, USAID, DOJ, DOD, and other agencies to prevent overlap; (4) coordination and tracking of activities in accordance with ForeignAssistance.gov publication requirements (22 U.S.C. 2394c); and (5) a process for co-locating USAID and State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs projects. This section further requires annual progress updates to the committees, beginning one year after plan submission, covering strategy implementation, benchmark progress, and prior-year funding statistics disaggregated by country.

This section directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the USAID Administrator and Inter-American Foundation President and CEO, to carry out programs over a five-year period beginning on enactment to promote natural disaster response and resilience in beneficiary countries through (1) encouraging coordination with relevant U.S. federal departments and agencies for expertise and information sharing, (2) supporting sharing of best practices on resilience including resilient infrastructure construction and post-disaster rebuilding, and (3) improving rapid-response mechanisms and cross-government preparedness. The section further requires the Secretary, in coordination with the USAID Administrator and consultation with the Inter-American Foundation President and CEO and relevant NGOs, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees within 180 days of enactment a strategy with specific, measurable benchmarks to achieve those purposes and inform beneficiary country citizens of U.S. assistance benefits. Additionally, the section requires the Secretary, in coordination with the USAID Administrator, to submit annual progress reports to those committees beginning one year after strategy submission.